Try this!

[joe hx]

This is something my step-dad does. He likes strange, exotic food, plus a lot of Mexican food (he's Mexican, so often this is authentic strange things they eat).

So, if he's eating something, he'll go up to you, and try to hand food to you and just bellow out "Try this!"

Normally I'll ask what it is, but he gives no reply. Just another "Try this!"

Really, I don't want to eat something I don't know what it is.

[Pedersen]

For you, my answer will be frustrating, but I have to agree with your step-dad.

Food is a funny thing. Give people something they know and understand, and they'll never be annoyed with you. Give people something new that fits into their "known and understood" categories, and they'll try it more often than not.

Give people something new, and that doesn't fit into their "known and understood", and they'll give you so much push back that you would swear you just tried to feed them arsenic off a melting spoon. However, if you don't tell them it's outside of their "known and understood", and simply have them try it first, they're actually fairly likely to try it and give it an honest chance.

Case in point: My sister's idea of high cuisine is Wendy's (yes, she is the shame of the family). We went to a supremely nice seafood restaurant when she was a teenager. and she asked for a cheeseburger. That's the type of person she is.

A couple years ago, we had her over for Thanksgiving, and she was happily munching on the cheese plate we had set out, including a goat cheese with a peppercorn rind (good stuff, too. I'm only so-so on most goat cheeses, but I liked this). Someone else asked what kind it was, and my sister overheard. To this day we joke about having someone yell "I ate part of a goat?!?" Since then, she won't try any cheeses we set out without knowing which ones they are first, even though she was really enjoying that goat cheese until she found out what it was.

It's her loss. We find some really great foods that everybody else likes, but she won't touch them for fear of it being outside of her "known and understood" categories.

I'll admit to being squeamish about certain foods, and completely unwilling to try a very few of them (lutefisk comes to mind). But I will try most anything. Who knows what I'll miss if I don't?

Your step-dad is trying to include you in the things he enjoys. Honestly, you should thank him, and even try out some of what he offers. You could very well find yourself pleasantly surprised. Even if you're not, you'll at least be able to know better what you don't like in future.

Just my two cents worth.

[Rapscallion]

Went on holiday with a friend of mine back in July - headed over to Italy. I didn't force anything on him, or really even offer any items that he didn't have on his plate.

On at least two days out of the ten, he had pizza margherita for all three meals of the day. He doesn't just love the dish. He would marry it. On the other days barring the three-times-a-day ones, he had it generally twice.

Me? I had risotta, carbonara, the occasional slice of pizza, escalopes, ham and cheese, and all manner of different dishes. I experienced a huge range of food. Him? Pizza Margherita all the way.

I've made curries when he's around (Thai ones) and added some water chestnuts. Pretty bland, right? He refused to eat them.

The way I see it, he's missing out. I'm not eating insects or eyeballs or anything I would consider gross, but I'm experiencing all sorts of new flavours.

He gets, cheese, bread, and tomato.

We're both happy.

Rapscallion

[MaggieTheCat]

The main problem I have with people not telling you what's in whatever you're eating is that I don't want to accidentally swallow part of a banana and spend the next 30+ minutes in agony and unable to breath.

My mom made a smoothie once and asked if I wanted some. I asked her what was in it. "Blueberries." Okay, I like blueberries. I started drinking. "HAHAHA I BET YOU COULDN'T EVEN TELL THERE WAS BANANAS IN THAT COULD YOU!" In case it wasn't abundantly clear, I'm ALLERGIC to bananas. And she literally tricked me into drinking a smoothie that she knew had bananas in it, just to see my reaction. THAT'S why I asked what was in it in the first place.

Granted, if something is meaty or tomatoy or whatever, I won't suspect bananas, and I'm usually fine with trying new things as long as I know I'm not going to have a bad reaction to them. But if I was someone who had more food allergies, I wouldn't be touching stuff that I didn't know the ingredients to, new experience be damned.

[Pedersen]

You are correct, allergies are a whole different kettle of fish. If the person being given the unknown food has any food allergies, then the major question is not "What is it?" but rather "Does it have this food I'm allergic to?"

Unlike others, I will always tell people the negatives of the food when asked. I'm a chile head. Love spicy foods. If you go to try something of mine, I will always warn about the heat level. If you tell me you have an allergy, I will do everything I can to accommodate you.

Outside of that, I feel it's fair game, though.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I usually ask if it looks like something that might have nuts in it. I'm allergic to cashews. But otherwise, I mostly don't care, as long as it's someone I trust not to, you know, poison me.

If my mom tricked me into eating something with, say, cashews in it, not only would I never consume anything in her presence ever again, but I would try to find out what kind of life insurance policy she'd taken out on me.

That defies belief.

[BroomJockey]

You are correct, allergies are a whole different kettle of fish. If the person being given the unknown food has any food allergies, then the major question is not "What is it?" but rather "Does it have this food I'm allergic to?"

I pretty much never touch a food I don't know, because I have, what I feel, is one of the most fucked up food allergies ever*. However, I balance it by being willing to go out on my own to try new food, since I can't trust what other people offer me.


*I'm fairly certain I've mentioned it, but for those who don't know/remember, it's pepper. Black ground table pepper, peppercorns, green peppers, jalapeños, banana peppers, whatever. They all induce the same reaction. After about 10 minutes my temp spikes up, my throat feels like it gets clogged with mucus, and a few other things happen at random. This will generally go on for an hour or so, depending on how much I ingested.

[AdminAssistant]

I love trying new food, although I tend to ask if something is very spicy, because I don't handle really really spicy food well. There is a shortage of Russian/German/Slavic restaurants in Kansas, but my friend from Pittsburgh (who also studies Russian history) makes all kinds of goodies whenever we have a party. It's awesome!

Heh, actually reminds me...at the first of the semester I had a "Southern Food" night, with stuff like casserole, black eyed peas, boiled potatoes, and fried okra. Fried okra is a basic staple....you would have thought I was serving sliced eyeballs. People were so confused...what is this mysterious substance? But everyone who tried it loved it!

(And you guys have reminded me why I always make it abundantly clear that my famous 'Boiled Cookies' contain peanut butter. They don't look like they do, but they do, and I'm always terrified that someone with a nut allergy will dig in.)

[Cats]

I'll come out and admit it, I am an INCREDIBLY picky eater. I won't eat something without knowing what's in it either. There's a lot of flavors and textures I do not like, and like my stuff separate unless I have liked the combination (it's not a food touching issue so much as flavors having a combination I don't like. I like peanut butter, and I like Jelly, but I will never ever have those two together in the same sandwich, since the combo tastes nasty together to me).

In my opinion, If someone asks me to try something, I find it more polite to say "no thanks" unless I know what's in it (and that it's something I may potentially like), rather than just try it right out and end up spitting it back or not finishing it and outright insulting the food tastes of the person who offered it to me.

But that's just me. Am I missing out? Sure, I know that. But I'm not stopping anyone else from enjoying what they like, and it's my problem, not theirs. I appreciate the willingness to share though.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Okra is my favorite veggie. I love it. I love it steamed and covered in slime, stewed with tomatoes, fried, in a gumbo, baked, sauteed. I love it raw.

Lotta folks can't get past the slime. But it ain't slimy if you fry it.

[IDrinkaRum]

My mother thinks I have "exotic" food tastes because I love to eat Thai & Chinese food.

Child Rum loves to eat calamari. Yes, you read that right - calamari: fried squid. I can get her to eat that, but not hamburgers. (Though lately, she has started to broaden her eating habits & will eat what I'm eating - including trying to grab my Big Mac, Quarter Pounder with Cheese, and Wendy's burgers!)

I generally will try just about anything.

But like a lot of posters, I always ask if it's spicy. I too don't get along with spicy foods.

[McDreidel09]

I have to do that to my sister because she won't try something if I do tell her. However, I won't have her try anything spicy. That's just mean. She has learned to trust my judgment and worst comes to worst, she won't like it and will spit it out.

[Stormraven]

I'm fairly picky myself, though I generally try to be willing to try new things. I have no allergies I know of, but I can't eat most oriental food (Chinese and Japanese are the two I've tried most) without something in the foods activating my gag reflex. I don't know what, though the current theory is that most of what I can't eat contains fermented soy.

I know I can eat fresh soybeans, though I'm not fond of them, so it's not soy specifically.

[gremcint]

If I ask what it is just tell me, Anything from personal tastes to food allergies means I may not like or want whatever you're shoving in my face. I'm willing to try new things but I want to know what I'm getting into.

As for getting people to try new things, if they don't want to try new things then leave them alone, so what if all she wants is cheeseburgers, she knows she's going to like what she gets and the fact that she is eating a cheeseburger does not magically transform the food on your plate so just leave her be, it just means she loses out on the other food.

[jackfaire]

I love spicy foods. In fact it is well known among friends and family that something that tastes spicy to them may not be so to me.

Thus when I say something is spicy they are very very careful when I say try this.